The War Within, The War Without
by Specter061
Summary: In the grim darkness of the 41st millennium there is only war. This tale takes you through the lives of four Imperial Guardsmen as they go through war. This is for mature audiences only. There will be blood, gore, some language, and raw emotions. I do not own Warhammer 40k. GW does. I only created the OC's and the story. Please feel free to leave a comment or review. Thank You.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

They were there. They were there, watching, waiting, looking for the opportune time to strike. Imperial Guardsmen Corporal Marcus Aventis could sense that they were looking at him right now. Even through the dense fog, and rain, his gut told him that they were out there. Savage, barbaric, and a blight to everything the Imperium of Man stood for, the Orks on the planet Charybdis sought to destroy all, and bring war to the agricultural planet.

Marcus stood in a trench, uniform splattered with mud, and rain soaking him through. He leaned up against the trench wall, barely exposing himself as he used a rangefinder to see through the dense fog. What used to be an alpine forest, is now a desolate wasteland filled with trenches and craters. Marcus eyed the surroundings, making sure to spot any tell-tale signs of Ork movement. He found none. He sat back down into the trench, looking at what remained of his squad. Zachariah Barbas, Lucius Kallis, and Aerielle Angelos . They were huddled together for warmth, sleeping under their last wool blanket, trying to stay dry. He would wake them up in a few minutes, they earned that much at least. Two years of pure hell on this planet. Two years. Already he felt like an old man, yet he is barely out of his teens. Two years of pure front line combat in the Astra Militarum as a guardsman to an infantry regiment is quite rare, but all four made it through this far.

Three years ago Marcus joined the Cerberus 501st Infantry Regiment willingly out of patriotism, and pride for the human race. All he wanted to do was just serve, and protect the Imperium from the hostile xenos that threaten the very existence of humanity. Now, he is doing all he can just to protect himself, and his friends. Zachariah joined for the same reasons too, and although younger than the age Cerberus allows into the guard he managed to convince the recruiter to let him join. Even throughout the years of fighting, he still believes it is his patriotic duty to serve both Cerberus, and the Imperium, and is still very enthusiastic about it. Lucius on the other hand is a conscript, a year behind Marcus and Zachariah. He was on his way to becoming an economist on Cerberus until the Ork attack on Charybdis occurred. Since Charybdis is in their system, and no other Imperial forces were close enough to help, the 501st Infantry Regiment conscripted a twenty five percent extra forces than what was required on the Imperial Tithe. While he loathed the Imperial system, and hated his forced conscription, he decided it was better to die in battle than to be shot in his home by the military police. Aerielle was conscripted as well, but she was indifferent to the situation. She was studying Imperial art, and hoped to one day bring back ancient Terran arts to contribute to the Imperium.

When the Orks invaded Charybdis, they met little resistance as the planetary defense force was no match for them. Within months the planet was under their total control, and before they could even begin to loot, the 501st arrived. The fighting was intense, many soldiers lost their lives in rooting out the Ork menace. The 500th, and 502nd Regiments followed shortly from Cerberus, and total Imperial casualties climbed to 95%. For a time, it seemed the Orks had the upper hand until an Eldar strike force aided the humans. Now the Orks have been pushed back to their last line of defense.

"Hey guys," said Marcus in a hushed tone. "You need to wake up." With that his friends slowly woke up.

"Time to go home yet?" yawned Lucius. "No, I am afraid not. Company HQ believes this may be the last battle though."

"If you say so," said Lucius. Lucius grabbed his lasgun and leaned against the side of the trench. "Marcus, may I see you optics?"

"Yeah, don't break them," replied Marcus as he handed the rangefinders to him. Zachariah checked his grenade bandaloir, and his grenade launcher. On the side of the launcher was etched in red paint, "Xenoslayer". Aerielle on the other hand yawned, stretched her arms and said, "Is this rain ever going to end? It's been what? Three days now?"

Marcus replied, "I do not know, I'm not part of the weather division." "However," he continued, "I will try to find some ponchos for all of you. Gotta stay dry, and we don't need anyone heading to the med tent with trench foot."

"Thanks Marcus," said Aerielle with a slight smile. She took up a position with her lasgun, not yet exposing herself to any one who might be watching, but just enough to where she could pop up, and shoot if necessary. In this place, the necessary usually happened. Lucius spotted something in the distance. It was small, and brief in its appearance. "Hey Marcus."

"Yes?" he replied.

"Would you care to look through these, and tell me what you see?"

"Sure." Marcus climbed up the side of the trench beside Lucius, and took the rangefinder from him.

"Look to about a hundred meters, at what is left of the tree line. You should see a large rock," instructed Lucius. Marcus scanned to where Lucius indicated and with the range finder's thermal imaging he saw a small goblinoid figure move about. Not sure what it was doing Marcus kept his eye on it. "It's a Gretchin by the looks of it," said Marcus. "Not really sure what he's doing."

"Should we call it in?" asked Lucius.

"Not until we know for sure what he's doing there. I highly doubt he can see us. Still we need to be cautious." When Marcus said that he could see more thermal images in the distance, about fifty meters further. These images were much larger in both height and bulk. "Looks like we have more Orks in the distance too. I can't quite count them. Lucius get on the vox and let the company commander know that there is Ork movement heading toward us from the east. Everyone else, get ready, this may be a last desperate attempt of theirs to dislodge us."

Lucius radioed in on the vox and received orders from their company commander. Hold until relieved. The Orks were going to try their best with a frontal assault to kill off what remained of the Cerberus Regiments. They had to hold the line here, at all costs. Maybe, just maybe when all this was over they could finally go home. A few nights before, a few of the remaining infantry squads planted makeshift mines and explosive charges in a spiderweb pattern about fifty meters in front of the trench line. Anything that wanted to go through there that wasn't human would cease to exist.

Then a low rumbling quickly progressed into a loud roar. Deep within the fog, the last of the Orks were going to either win, or go down in true Ork fashion: with a good ol' charge. "WAAAGH!" the mass of Orks yelled in unison through the fog. Marcus and his squad readied their sights as the rest of the members of the 501st prepared for the oncoming horde. As soon as the Orks came into clear view, fifty yards away, the officers bellowed their orders to commence firing. Lasfire, pre-sighted mortars, and heavy bolters poured their monumental fury onto the onrushing green skins. Many Orks fell by the dozens as combined lasfire brought them down. Many exploded from the impact of the heavy bolter shells, and others became nothing but gory bits of flesh as they became the epicenter of an exploding mortar. WHAM! The mines, and charges went off as a soldier hit the detonator. Many Orks, and chunks of visceral red meat went flying through the air, and landing in a pile of gore. Still the Orks pushed onward toward the trench line, as if the incoming hail of ordnance, and the mines were nothing. The Orks fired their crude weapons as they charged, filling the air with lead. Many shots hit nothing but dirt, but a few lucky rounds found their marks as Guardsmen fell from the barrage of lead. When the orks came within yards of the first trench line they chucked their stikkbomb grenades killing many Guardsmen with explosive fury.

Zachariah popped up and fire a frag grenade into the onrushing tide and slew three of them before an Ork jumped down into the trench with them. The Ork was between Marcus and Lucius and they tried stabbing at it with their bayonets, while the Ork kept firing at Marcus with his slugga pistol, and swinging at Lucius with his choppa. Despite the close quarters the slugga's shots missed Marcus completely and he ducked under and stabbed into the Ork's gut. The Ork pistol whipped Marcus right on top of his helmet, bringing him down to his knees, blackness swirling in his vision. Marcus tried batting away the choppa but instead ended up receiving a kick to the torso. The Ork then lifted his choppa high and swung it down towards Marcus when Zachariah lunged at him with a tackle. Zachariah's surprise tackle staggered the Ork, almost losing his balance. Lucius came up behind the Ork, stabbing it in the back in an exposed section of his armor. The Ork dropped his slugga, and lifted Zachariah off of him and threw him onto Marcus, then spun around to lash out at Lucius. Aerielle fired three shots into its back which only seemed to enrage it. As the Ork tried to hit Lucius, Aerielle drew her combat knife, and hopped over the two prone troopers, and jumped onto the Ork's back. Lucius fired a few shots into the beast's torso at point blank range. The Ork reached over and grabbed Aerielle, and threw her at Lucius, slashing her arm across the bayonet. With a defiant roar, the Ork charged toward them and pounced upon them, and as he brought his choppa to bear, Marcus stabbed repetitively into its back and fired as he did so. At the same time, Zachariah rushed it, knocking it off of the two soldiers, and Marcus shot it in the face full-auto. The beast finally died.

Then, a horrid scream arose above the cacophony of battle, Marcus looked up just in time to see a whole squad of infantrymen exploded into blood and gore from within as the little goblin like snotlings poured out. There was a Big Mek nearby with a Shokk Attack Gun, that would be the true threat. Before Marcus could react however, a gaggle of Gretchin leaped into the trench on top of him, and his squad. Each Gretchin were wielding crude knives, yet one well placed cut would be the end to the victim. Marcus and his squad fought hard, suffering many slashes from the knives, thankfully they were only flesh wounds. PEW! PEW! PEW! The Gretchin were dead. A few Guardsmen from the rear lines had pushed forward to aid the front defenders.

"Marcus! We need to get that Big Mek before he kills us all! Head down the line and make it to the Heavy Bolter turret! We will cover you from here!" shouted the trooper. Despite yelling at such close proximity, Marcus could barely hear him over the screams of the dying, and the explosions going around.

"Alright! Aerielle, Lucius, Zachariah! On me, we are heading down the trench to the gun emplacement! Keep an eye out for the Big Mek! Let's go!"

Marcus lead his small band through the blood soaked trench. Every so often he had to take a few shots, and stabs at any Ork that got in his way. Finally making it to the Heavy Bolter, he checked the ammo situation and rained hellfire onto the horde that was still coming in. Zachariah lobbed a few grenades with Xenoslayer, turning many Orks into puddles of flesh and bone. Lucius and Aerielle were fighting an Ork hand to hand, stabbing at it with their bayonets, before it finally fell. Its intestines spilled out unto the ground with the final slash.

Marcus saw something about a few heads taller than the Orks within the fog. It seemed to be carrying a shoulder mountain weapon. **This has to be him!** thought Marcus, and fired a steady stream of self propelled exploding rounds into it. The rounds bounced off an invisible barrier before exploding harmlessly into the air. Emperor save us thought Marcus. This Mek has a force field. As the Big Mek approached closer, his Shokk Attack gun leveled on his shoulder, he caught Marcus's eye and let out a wide open grin before charging up the shot. **This is it!** Marcus told himself.

BWAM! the Big Mek was no more, and before Marcus could figure out what happened he saw a shadow loom over the battlefield. "It's the Eldar!" exclaimed Zachariah. The Eldar hover tank skimmed through the air like a predatory bird, firing rounds upon rounds of condemnation and judgment upon the Orks.

"They are retreating!" someone shouted. Indeed the Orks were retreating. "Suffer not the alien to live! Purge the xeno menace! In the name of the Immortal Emperor!" ordered the Regimental Commissar. Combined lasfire, and the Eldar's hover tank made short work of the remaining Orks.

Marcus sat down, and let out a deep sigh. His head just now began to hurt from the blow to the head earlier from the Ork. He took off his helmet and noticed a deep indention where the Ork pistol whipped him. Perhaps he'd see a doctor later. Lucius was bandaging Aurielle's arm. The wound looked worse than it could have been, but it definitely would be leaving a scar.

Zachariah came up to him, "Maybe now we can go home. This was the last of them."

"I sure hope so Zachariah. I sure hope so," replied Marcus.

The Commissar came down to where Marcus was, he too did not make it through this battle unscathed. The Commissar's peaked cap was nowhere to be seen, and a gash ran from his forehead down to the side of his cheek. "Corporal Marcus?"

"Yes Commissar Westan?"

"Colonel Helbram wants to see you, and your squad right now."

"Yes Commissar, we will be there. Anything else Commissar?"

"Yes, congratulations on remaining on the front line. By the Emperor, You and your squad remained firm in holding ground. Besides me, you and your squad were the only ones left in the front trench until the reserves managed to break forward. I will see about getting you a promotion, and your squad some much needed rest. You earned it."

"Thank you Commissar, you are too kind. Only doing my service for the Emperor."

About ten minutes later Marcus and his squad were standing in the Colonel's command tent. There was fresh blood on one of the command tables. Seems the greenskins made it this far. "At ease troopers. I have just received word from intelligence that there is an ancient data cache that dates back to the Dark Age of Technology. It is located in the Makdonian Mountain area. Segmentum Command wants this cache, as they believe it to be in the best interests of mankind. While I am loathe to split up what remains of our forces, I am sending you and your squad to link up with an Eldar Farseer at the forest at the base of the mountains. She has agreed to help us with this endeavor. Keep an eye out though, xenos are not to be trusted, but if it were not for this Farseer and her people we surely would have lost the war a year ago. Now I want you to get some rest, and washed up. Commissar Westan told me of how you held the line up front. As a reward for your efforts, I am giving you a 24 hour pass to relax, eat, and get ready for the mission. Also Marcus you are now promoted to Sergeant. Any questions? Good. Carry on."

 **Go home?** Marcus thought. **What is home anymore?**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As soon as they left the tent Marcus addressed them saying "You three get showered and cleaned up. After that do what else you have to do to prepare for this mission. I advise packing heavy, as we do not know how long it is we will be out there. If there is any other equipment that you need, relay it to me and I will contact the quartermaster. Once you have done those things, relax. We won't be leaving until tomorrow morning. I am going to see about acquiring a Valkyrie. Any questions?"

"Marcus-er I mean Sergeant Aventis," said Zachariah. "Can we really trust this Eldar? I mean they did help us and all with the Orks, and for that I am thankful, but is our alliance with them on this world kind of pointless now that we defeated the greenskins? They are xenos scum after all."

Marcus thought for a few seconds before answering. "First of all, just call me Marcus. No need to be treating me special just because I was promoted. Secondly, the greenskins may still be on this planet. They could be hiding in the mountains, or somewhere in another forest. I don't really know, and I seriously doubt that we can just stroll around the place, mucking about, and not be in any sort of danger. If there is still a threat, we need all the allies we can get. So far it doesn't seem like Cerberus will be able to send in any more regiments until they can recruit more, and other allied forces are light years away from here. In fact, they are possibly fighting in other areas that are keeping them tied up, especially if it is a system deem more valuable than this one. Thirdly, the 'xenos scum' as you so eloquently put it just saved our asses. If they are willing to help us for whatever reason it may be, I am content to ally with them if it means we can repel the current enemy while keeping our own heads. Understand me?"

"Yes Sergeant...Sorry I mean Marcus," replied Zachariah.

"Alright, now get going, I have some things to attend to."

With that, they parted ways. Lucius, and Aerielle went together in one direction toward the medical tents. Aerielle's arm needed some tending to ever since the bayonet slashed it. They walked into the tent, and saw many injured and dying men and women lying on cots and stretchers. Medics were rushing about, tending to as many as they can, starting with the most severe ones. Lucius turned his head and saw a medic doing chest compressions on a man. The man was pale as snow, his eyes glazed over into an endless stare. Lucius went over and said to the medic "He's dead doc. You can't do anything more for him." The young medic turned his head and looked over his shoulder and saw both troopers, covered in scraps, cuts, and a mixture of human and alien blood. Tears welled in his eyes. This man couldn't have been past eighteen by more than a few days. Lucius noticed the resemblance between this man and the one on the stretcher.

With a sorrowful, quivering voice, the young man said, "this is my brother. I promised my ma I would look out for my brother. Why couldn't it have been me instead?" With that the man began to sob, tears rolling down his checks, his eyes and face red.

 _Explosions rocked the earth as Ork Lootas fired onto Lucius's position. He hugged the ground, making himself as small as possible as a fusillade of screaming lead poured down onto his position. He heard the sound of meat being smacked and felt warm liquid spray his body. Soon he could smell it; the smell of blood. He moved his head to see who had been killed. Private First Class Erund Nehmand lay within a pool of blood that was quickly filling the crater. "NOOOOO!" cried Lucius._ _ **No, not my best friend! Not him!**_ _Lucius screamed in his mind. The firing continued, but no longer in his directed. Maybe the Lootas thought him dead, or found something else to shoot. Lucius quickly scurried over to his fallen comrade, panic already setting in. He could feel the fear and anguish seeping through his veins, and like his beating heart, it pulsed throughout him. I have to do something he thought. He began to perform chest compressions._

 _Marcus ran up to a crater and found Lucius performing chest compressions on a man. "Lucius come on we have got to move!" yelled Marcus. Lucius didn't budge a muscle, he continued the compressions. Marcus quickly glanced down, and saw the tattooed arm sporting the Imperial Aquila._ _ **Throne of Terra**_ _Marcus thought._ _ **This is Private Erund**_ _. "Lucius the man is dead," said Marcus solemnly. This was the third one to go from their squad, and already they had been in the field three days._

 _"No he's still alive I can feel his pulse!" cried Lucius. "I'm not leaving my best friend here!"_

 _Marcus quickly jerked Lucius up to his feet, and smacked him in the face; getting his attention. "Lucius, there's nothing you can do here for him. He is dead. Just look at him." Lucius looked down reluctantly, not wanting to see what remained of his lifelong friend and comrade. What Lucius saw nearly made him throw up. The body remained intact except for the fact that there was no head, and a great pool of blood had poured out of the body. "Lucius look at me." Lucius slowly looked back at Marcus, his knees shaking now after realizing that his friend is truly dead, and that he might be next._

 _"Lucius, we have to carry on; you have to carry on. Erund is dead, and we will be too if we don't do anything about those Lootas. Do not let his death be in vain. Would he want you to be unable to perform your duties? Would he want you to be unable to carry on?"_

 _"N-no," replied Lucius._

 _"Lucius, we have to stick together to get through this. I'm going to need you on this okay? I will help you get through this, and avenge his death. After we get through this battle, I will help you give him a proper and honorable burial okay? But right now I need you to focus. Is that clear?"_

 _"Y-yes Aventis."_

 _"Just call me Marcus." With that Marcus picked up Lucius's lasgun, and handed it to him. "Okay Lucius, we stick together, just follow me, and I will get you out here safely. Now, here we go."_

Lucius bent down and cradled the man. "Shhhhhhhhh. Look we are going to get through this okay? Your brother's death was not in vain. Do not let what he fought and died for to go to waste. Your brother wouldn't want you to dwell on this. It's going to be okay. When I'm done here I am going to fetch a priest, and make sure he gets properly buried and given last rites okay?"

The medic could only shake his head. Lucius got up, and found another medic and said, "Get this man away from here, if but for a few moments. He needs time to deal with this."

"I'm sorry, but medical staff are required to stay here and attend the wounded."

"Wounded? This place needs a burial detail not a medical staff," Lucius replied with a bite of irritation and anger in his voice. "How can you expect him to perform to the best of his duties if he's like this?" With that he pointed at the medic who was currently still on his knees over his brother crying. "Listen, the Imperium wants the best correct? Well just let him calm down for a bit, and then have him return so he can perform at his best. Or do you want to get a Commissar involved here?" As he said this he stepped closer to the man, getting face to face with him.

"No Commissar is necessary, I will make sure he is calm down before returning," said the medic before hurrying off with the other one to find a place for him to rest.

"Hey you two! What are you doing in my medical war mucking up the place?"

Lucius and Aurielle turned and saw the senior medical officer present. A Senior Lieutenant walked up to them. The two troopers snapped to attention and Lucius said, "Sir, I was making sure the Imperium's resources were not wasted."

"Sending off my medics seems like a waste to me. I ought to have you flogged and brought to the Commissar." The Lieutenant seemed visibly strained at the moment, most likely caused by the current casualties and injures.

"Sir, we just came from a meeting with Colonel Helbram and Commissar Westan. We are pressed for time, so unless you would like to explain to the Colonel and the Commissar as to why we are late for an important mission of theirs, I highly suggest helping us instead of hindering us, sir."

The Lieutenant couldn't believe that one of the enlisted ranks would dare talk to him this way. Well, he would inquire through the chain of command about these two, and if they aren't on a mission directly from the Colonel, then there will be hell to pay. He sighed and said, "what is it you want?"

"Sir, Private Angelos requires medical attention to her arm, and we need medical supplies for this mission."

While Lucius and Aurielle were busy in the medical tent, Marcus was busy gathering certain items needed for tomorrow's mission. He managed to secure a bird named Silver Crow, a long range vox, and plenty of rations. He made his way back to the showers. After stripping off his armor, and clothing he just stood there under the water, letting it rinse off the dried blood and grime that stained him. This was his first shower in many weeks, how many he could not count. Each shower had its own cubical for privacy, and all the pipes were connected to a large water reservoir. Marcus leaned his head onto the shower wall, closing his eyes. His whole body ached, especially his head. He took a few deep breaths as he enjoyed the cold water that ran down his body. To some, they would find it off putting to take a cold shower, but for him any shower is welcome at this point. As he slowly began to relax his mind began to think back on the past. It felt like eons ago that he was home, only it was just a little over two years since he had last seen his family. Family...family...

 _Marcus felt the warm refreshing air on his face as he entered his family's house. The air smelled like lavender, and the air gave him comfort and peace. His family was proud of him when he had joined the 501_ _st_ _Cerberus Infantry Regiment. Now he hoped that same pride was still there when he told them he was going to be shipping out tomorrow. He saw his parents and hugged them. After they talked for a bit, eating lunch he gave them the news. "Mom, dad, I have something to say. I am being shipped out tomorrow. The Regiment is needed at Charybdis."_

 _"Son, I am proud of you," said the father. "I want you to be happy, and if this is what makes you happy, I will support you."_

 _"Thanks father."_

 _"You will write to use when you can won't you?" asked his mother. Her eyes were already tearing up. "I want you to be safe okay?"_

 _"I'll be okay mom, and yes I will write," answered Marcus as he embraced his mother and father._ _ **I'll be okay**_ _he kept thinking to himself._ _ **I'll be okay.**_

Marcus finished cleansing himself, and retrieved a fresh uniform he gather earlier. He headed out. There was much more work to be done.


End file.
